Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: Dawn Of X, dead man logan, deaths, excalibur, marvel, old man logan, wolverine, x-men, X-ual Healing - The Weekly X-Men Recap Column

Excalibur #1 Sets the Standard for the Dawn of X [X-ual Healing 10-31-19]

Published Mon, 04 Nov 2019 12:30:45 -0600

by Jude Terror

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As the Dawn of X continues to roll out, we've got a recap of both Excalibur #1 and Dead Man Logan #12. Beginnings and endings in this installment of the number one sex-pun-themed weekly X-Men recap column!

Sworn to sell comics for Marvel executives who feared and hated the fact that Fox owned their movie rights, The Uncanny X-Men suffered great indignities, but thanks to a corporate merger and a line-wide relaunch, the X-Men can finally get back to doing what they do best: being objectively the best franchise in all of comics.

EXCALIBUR #1 DX
AUG190856
(W) Tini Howard (A) Marcus To (CA) Mahmud Asrar
A NEW DAWN IS FORGED!
The Otherworld is rocked by war! It is a new era for mutantkind as a new Captain Britain holds the amulet, fighting for the Kingdom of Avalon with her Excalibur at her side – Rogue, Gambit, Rictor, Jubilee…and Apocalypse.
Rated T+
In Shops: Oct 30, 2019
SRP: $4.99

What Happened in Excalibur #1?

The issue opens with an infographic page featuring a letter from Apocalypse to the magic users of the world talking about mutant superiority and whatnot. We then cut to Otherworld, where Queen Morgan Le Fay is none too pleased about a Krakoan portal that's opened at the bottom of her scrying pool. At the Braddock Academy, Psylocke says goodbye to her brother and Megan before moving to Krakoa. She arrives in Krakoa during the nonstop party that's going on there. Meanwhile, Apocalypse (who has a new Krakoan name) is hanging out with Trinary, trying to figure out why one of the portals (the one that leads to Otherworld) is blocked. He needs a champion to break through and get it open again. In North Yorkshire, the coven Solar Blackwood is visited by Morgan Le Fay, who is still really pissed about that portal. She tells them that she's taking away all magic drawn from Otherworld until the portal is destroyed, tasking them to take care of it for her by killing all the mutants if they have to.

Back on Krakoa, Psylocke gets the evil eye from Kwannon before getting an invite to get wasted with Jubilee, but before she can do that, Goldballs, who is now attempting to go by the name "Egg," approaches her with a problem. It seems they've brought Psylocke's crazy supervillain brother Jamie back to life and, believe it or not, he's causing trouble. Psylocke talks him down and makes him clean up his mess, but Jamie doesn't want his brother to know he's back. Psylocke says she's going to go get Brian anyway, but before she can, Apocalypse shows up, explains about the Otherworld portal, and wants Betsy to bring Captain Britain back to break through it. Good timing.

Psylocke heads back to England, but Brian is already in costume and getting ready to leave, having been called to Otherworld himself. Psylocke goes with him. They're greeted by Morgan Le Fay and her new coven, and she wants Captain Britain to kill all the mutants, starting with Psylocke. Back on Krakoa, a conversation between Rogue and Gambit about maybe making some babies is interrupted by Trinary and Apocalypse, who informs them about the situation with Psylocke and Captain Britain. He's more concerned with opening the portal though, and he wants Rogue to touch the barrier, using her powers to drain its effectiveness. Jubilee arrives as well as Rogue, against Gambit's advice, agrees to try to open the portal.

On the other side, the Braddocks are fighting for their lives, but shortly, Morgan Le Fay uses her powers to corrupt Captain Britain, turning his costume black and forcing him to attack his sister. As Rogue weakens the barrier enough for Apocalypse to telepathically contact Psylocke, Captain Britain urges Psylocke to destroy the portal as Apocalypse requests. She does, and this causes Rogue to fall into a deep sleep, naked, surrounded by flowers, which does not make Gambit very happy. Back in Otherworld, Captain Britain tosses Psylocke to the ground, where he's also dropped his magical amulet. Under the guise of talking trash, he signals to her to put the amulet on. She does, and it transports her to Krakoa on the other side of the portal. It also turned her into the new Captain Britain.

In an epilogue, we learn why the coven members from earlier were in Otherworld. Apparently, their leader, High Priestess Marianna Stern sacrificed her coven mates to spare herself. She leaves and joins a new coven, Coven Akkaba, presumably related to Clan Akkaba, who are followers of Apocalypse… but this coven hates mutants, a final infographic page reveals.

Was it any good?

Was it any good?! I have to say, I wish HoXPoX was more like this. A ton happened here (as you can tell from the length of the recap), setting up this new series in a single issue instead of a 12-issue extra-priced maxi-series. Each of the characters in the book had scenes that explained their personalities very efficiently and several storylines were set up: Morgan Le Fay's quest to destroy mutants, the return of Jamie Braddock, Brian Braddock's forced heel turn, Psylocke's transformation into Captain Britain, Rogue's Snow White act, the tension between Apocalypse and his new team, and this whole Coven Akkaba thing. The art was fantastic, which is no surprise because Marcus To. Everyone is behaving in-character. Everything important happened in the comic and the infographics were all supplemental. I also liked the hectic way Betsy was getting pulled in multiple directions in this issue. She's asked to go drink with Jubilee, but she gets pulled away before she can. She goes to get Brian and bring him back to Krakoa, but ends up going straight to Otherworld. It created a sense of Betsy struggling for control and failing to maintain it.

This is easily the best of the Dawn of X books so far. More of this, please.

DEAD MAN LOGAN #12 (OF 12)
AUG191087
(W) Ed Brisson (A) Mike Henderson (CA) Declan Shalvey
LEGENDS NEVER DIE!
"A shockingly well-constructed farewell" – Comic Watch
"Violent fun" – Comics: The Gathering
"A masterpiece" – YouDon'tReadComics.com
Parental Advisory
In Shops: Oct 30, 2019
SRP: $3.99

What Happened in Dead Man Logan #12?

Last issue, Sabretooth and the forces of Mister Sinister were about to finish off Old Man Logan, Dani Cage, and Bruce Banner Jr. in the streets of the town of Hammerfall, when Dani reached out and grabbed Thor's fallen hammer, and turned out to be worthy. We pick up from right there as the final battle ensues. Logan takes his last does of Regenix and fights Sabretooth, eventually ripping him apart into many pieces. But Logan is hurt badly and dying (it's the last issue, so duh). Mister Sinister tries to stop them from escaping, but Dani explodes his head with her hammer. They steal his car and make their escape, but Logan says he can't be saved and asks them to bring him to his old farm so he can sit at his wife and children's graves and monologue for a while before dying. Dani and Bruce bury him and resolve to keep fighting in his honor. They leave to make a home of their own.

Was it any good?

I'm always a sucker for any book that will kill a Wolverine, but I have to admit his death was pretty emotional, possibly because it took several pages (or, if you want to be technical about it, twelve issues). I kinda liked Old Man Logan better than the original Wolverine, but oh well. This series overall was entertaining, but as it stretched further into the new era of X-Men, it felt even less important as a book that started out with a foregone conclusion in the first place, which hurt its impact.

Wolverine's Weiner X-Pick of the Week

Now that HoXPoX is over and we'll be getting more X-books, it's time to bring back the Wolverine's Weiner X-Pick of the week, awarded to the comic that provides the most satisfying X-Men experience, like grilled meat on a hot summer day. It seems we may still get single-X-book weeks for the foreseeable future, and on those weeks, if the one X-book sucked, then no one will get the Wolverine's Weiner X-Pick of the Week.

This week, there were two, and both books were good this week, but Excalibur was next level good. It is, therefore, the Wolverine's Weiner X-Pick of the Week.

Past winners:

10/16/2019: X-Men #1
10/23/2019: Marauders #1
10/30/2019: Excalibur #1

Next week, we have New Mutants #1 as well as X-Force #1, the first time two Dawn of X titles will go head to head. Which will win the coveted weiner award? Find out next week!